Could Winthrop University pay nine-month faculty early and subsidize six credits of classes?

Plain-English summary

Winthrop University's president asked whether faculty on nine-month contracts could be paid at the start of the contract period and whether faculty could still take up to six credits per semester at a discounted rate. The 1996 opinion treated the two benefits separately.

For salary, the AG said state employees could not be paid for work not yet performed. He left a factual question open: summer research or preparation might be compensable at the outset if it was actually within the faculty contract, a matter for the university to examine with the auditor. For tuition assistance, he found the statute's four-credit limit clear and said Winthrop could not extend the benefit to six credits.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1996. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Could Winthrop pay the entire nine-month salary before faculty performed the work? A: The opinion said no. It treated advance payment for work not yet done as barred by the state pay provision.

Q: Did faculty summer preparation change that answer? A: Potentially, but only if the work fell within the contract and was already compensable. The AG did not resolve the facts and referred the contract question to the auditor.

Q: Could the school give discounted tuition for six credits each semester? A: The opinion said the then-current statute limited this faculty assistance to four credit hours per semester.

Background and statutory framework

The letter applied the state salary provision identified as 8-11-30 and the faculty tuition-assistance limit in Section 59-111-15. It distinguished money already due under an employment contract from advance pay for future work.

Citations and references

Statutes discussed: 8-11-30 and Section 59-111-15.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/may-21-1996/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/96may21digiorgio.pdf

Original opinion text

The State of South Carolina

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Cl-IARL ES MOLONY CONDON

,o\TIORNEY GENERAL

May 21 , 1996

Anthony J. DiGiorgio, President
Winthrop University
114 Tillman Hall
Rock Hill, South Carolina 29733
Re:

Informal Opinion

Dear President DiGiorgio:
You have requested the advice of this Off·ice as to two matters concerning Winthrop's faculty. These issues are separately addressed below. Your first question is whether Winthrop may pay faculty members on nine month contracts at the outset of the contract period. The Auditor's Office has noted the possible applicability of s.c. Code Ann S 8-11-30 which states in part that "[i]t sha l l be unlawful for anyone to receive from the State .. or . . pay salaries ... that are not due to State empl oyees .. . " The only exception therein is for t he month of December. The identical codification of this provision at S 1- 42 in the 1962 Code of Laws has been interpreted previously as prohibiting payment of salaries of State employees in advance. Ops. Atty. Gen. (April 7, 1975). Therefore, payments in advance of work performed cannot be made to faculty members under s 8-11-30 without violat i ng this provision. You have noted that nine month faculty frequent ly spend much of the summer updating their knowledge, conduct i ng research and planning and preparing for classes. Such activit i es could not be compensated at the outset of the contract period unless the activities to which you refer come within the terms of the contract. I suggest that you review the contract and the related facts and talk to the Auditor's Office about whether those facts might permit the payment at the outset of the contract period. Normally, fact findings are beyond the scope of opinions of this Office. Ops. Atty. Gen. (December 12, 1983) .

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May 21, 1996
Page 2

You have also asked whether Winthrop may continue to permit faculty to enroll in up to six credit hours of classes per semester at a rate of $10 per credit hour. Section 59-111-15 (Supp. 1995) authorizes State colleges, universities and vocational and technical colleges "to provide assistance for educational expenses ... to its permanent faculty and staff ... (but they] are not entitled to assistance provided in this section for more than four credit hours a semester." The " ... primary function in interpreting a statute is to ascertain the intention of the legislature." South Carolina Department of Highways and Public Transportation v. Dickinson, 288 s.c. 134, 341 S.E. 2d 134 (1986)~ This statute plainly limits the tuition assistance to four hours per semester. I have located no provision of State law that would alter this limitation for Winthrop faculty or authorize Winthrop to adopt a different policy. Therefore, Winthrop may not provide more than four credit hours of assistance to its faculty. This letter is an informal opinion. It has been written by the designated Assistant Deputy Attorney General and represents the opinion of the undersigned attorney as to the specif le questions asked. It has not, however, been personally reviewed by the Attorney General nor officially published in the manner of a formal opinion . If you have further questions, please let me know.

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